Hoo Yew Wah: Seeking Clemency from Sultan of Johor

Hoo Yew Wah, a Malaysian national of Chinese ethnicity, remained on death row at Bentong prison, Pahang State, central Malaysia.

In March 2005, at the age of 20, he was found in possession of 188.35 grams of methamphetamine, automatically presumed to be trafficking drugs and later convicted of trafficking under section 39(B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1952. He was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty on 12 May 2011. The courts rejected his appeals in September 2012 and July 2013. His April 2014 petition for a pardon to the Sultan of Johor State, where the offence took place, remained pending. He turned 32 years old in 2017 and said he repented his offence.

Hoo Yew Wah was convicted on the basis of a statement he made at the time of arrest in Mandarin language, his mother tongue, without a lawyer present, and the content of which he contested at trial and on appeal. He also said that on the day after his arrest, and during his detention at the District Police Headquarter in Johore, the police broke his finger and threatened to beat his girlfriend to make him sign this statement. While these concerns were raised before the courts, the judges dismissed them and upheld his conviction and sentence. International law absolutely prohibits the use of torture and other ill-treatment, as well as the use of coerced, self-incriminating statements as evidence to convict. Additionally, the UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty clearly state that “Capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts.”

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The organisation campaigns for total abolition of capital punishment.

You can help Hoo Yew Wah by signing this petition:

Take action here!

Your Majesty,

Hoo Yew Wah, currently on death row at Bentong prison, was convicted on the basis of a statement he made at the time of arrest in Mandarin, without a lawyer present, the content of which he contested at trial and on appeal. During his detention, the police broke his finger and threatened to beat his girlfriend to make him sign this statement. Hoo Yew Wah left school at the age of 11 and later moved to Kuala Lumpur, where he worked in a street restaurant as cook. He is now 32 years old and has repented for his offence.

I encourage you to intervene with the Pardon Board of the Johor state and support the pardon application of Hoo Yew Wah.

The Sengwer people in Kenya have a deep, spiritual bond with the beautiful and vast Embobut Forest. It’s their ancestral land where they have lived for centuries. But this Indigenous community of beekeepers and cattle herders is being violently evicted by the Kenyan government.

In the name of “conservation”, forest guards and police have burned an estimated 2,600 houses since 2012, making some 4,600 people homeless. In January 2018, one man was shot dead and another seriously injured. The violence is in direct violation of repeated court orders that should protect this Indigenous community.

Sengwer people are losing their homes, livelihoods and cultural identity. Some are now living outside the forest and have been left in crushing poverty. Women are often hit hardest, struggling on their own to care for families as some men stay in the forest or have abandoned their families.

The government says it wants to reduce deforestation, but there is no evidence that the Sengwer have damaged the forest. These Indigenous people should be recognized as the owners and natural custodians of the Embobut Forest, as their livelihoods, identity and spirituality rely on it. They are determined to resist. Let’s stand with them today.

Tell Kenya to let the Sengwer people live on their land in peace.

Atena Daemi

Like so many, Atena Daemi dreams of an end to the death penalty in Iran. She’s written Facebook and Twitter posts criticizing the country’s execution record. She’s handed out leaflets. And she’s taken part in a peaceful protest against the execution of a young woman. Simple actions which sadly, in Iran, take great courage.

Incredibly, these activities have been cited as evidence of her criminal activity and now she’s been sentenced to seven years in jail. Her trial was a sham – it took just 15 minutes and she was convicted on trumped-up charges, including gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security.

Her cruel treatment is one more bitter example of the intense crackdown on people who speak out for a fairer Iran. Dozens have been imprisoned, and many others face surveillance, interrogations and drawn-out prosecutions, forcing them into silence.

Atena has suffered so much already. She’s been beaten, pepper sprayed and forced into solitary confinement, but she continues to fight for human rights. Earlier this year, she went on hunger strike to protest her transfer to a notorious prison. Her health has deteriorated alarmingly while in prison. She must be released immediately.